Home Improvement

By 8:30 a.m. on Monday Oct. 18, the line for BSU v. Fresno

tickets stretched from the SUB information desk, through the

hallway past ASBSU’s offices and into the lobby of the Special

Events Center.

At the stadium ticket office, the Taco Bell Arena, and the Morrison

Center, the scene was similar, with long lines of students vying

for the 5,000 student seats made available for each home game. Two

hours and twenty-two minutes after tickets went on sale all student

seats were claimed, leaving many students ticketless.

Junior Jake Mason showed up at 6 a.m. in the SUB to find about 200

people already in line in front of him. Mason is just one of many

students who would like to see the stadium expanded to better

accommodate the Broncos’ growing fan base.

Boise State’s game against Fresno marked the fifth stadium sell-out

this season, more sell-outs than any previous season. “Bronco

Stadium has never been sold out every game,” said assistant

athletic director in charge of media relations, Max Corbet.

The continued success of Bronco football has prompted the athletic

administration to start studying the feasibility of expanding the

stadium from its current 30,000 seats to a potential 50,000

seats.

“The continued success of the football team and the success of this

year has increased the demand for an expansion of this kind,” said

athletic director Gene Bleymaier.

The athletic administration recently commissioned Convention Sports

and Leisure International to conduct a $75,000 feasibility study on

the expansion of Bronco Stadium. CSL also did the feasibility

studies for the Oregon State’s Reser Stadium and the University of

Oregon’s Autzen Stadium.

According to Bleymaier, there has been talk of expanding

the press box for over a decade and after expanding the stadium in

1997 room was left specifically for further expansions.

Currently, the athletic administration is proposing a three-stage

stadium expansion that will include a new press box, luxury suites,

club seats, and over 15,000 general admission seats.

According to Bleymaier, the current press box is “woefully

inadequate” and needs extensive updates to make it compatible with

the success of the Broncos. Stage one of the project will see the

current press box transformed into a state-of-the-art facility

boasting a ballroom, multiple luxury suites, and club seats. Stage

one will take an estimated three to four years to complete at a

cost of approximately $40 million. Renowned architectural firm

Ellerbe Becket designed the proposed press box.

The second stage of the expansion will add an additional 8,000 to

10,000 seats by connecting the two ends of the north end zone.

According to Bleymaier, both stages could be completed as early as

2007 at a total cost of approximately $60 million.

Bleymaier said that at this point, stage three is more wishful

thinking than reality. Stage three would see an additional 10,000

seats added to the stadium, expanding its overall capacity to

50,000 at a projected cost of $20 million.

Right now, the project is in the research stage to determine

whether enough revenue can be generated to fund the stadium

expansion. According to Bleymaier, presale of the luxury suites and

club seating could generate nearly $2.5 million dollars a year in

revenue.

As part of the feasibility study, Bronco Boosters and a random

sample of season ticket holder are being asked whether they would

be willing to pay $40,000 a year for luxury suites and $2,000 a

year for club seats.

At this point, the viability of the project hinges on the results

of the feasibility study. Bleymaier said the project could change

depending on the results of the study.

The athletic administration expects the results from the

feasibility study to be ready by the end of November. According to

athletic administrations director of marketing and promotions Curt

Apsey, once the result analysis is compiled the athletic

administration will meet with CSL to begin more formally planning

the stadium expansion.

Amber Fuger
Sports Writer

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